


Progression

by VincereDiem



Series: Letters I Never Sent to You [3]
Category: Start-Up (Korea TV)
Genre: Cats, F/M, Fluff, Kissing, Touching
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:53:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28481217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VincereDiem/pseuds/VincereDiem
Summary: “To be honest,” she tells him, eyes twinkling. “I actually don’t want just a kiss. What I really want to do is to make out with you right now. But I feel like that’s kind of awkward. What do you think?”Ji Pyeong laughs.
Relationships: Han Ji Pyeong/Seo Dal Mi
Series: Letters I Never Sent to You [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2087469
Comments: 9
Kudos: 88





	Progression

**I**

Dal Mi is in his car when she first touches him, her hand on his hair. Fingers running off the edges of his bangs. A light, feathery trickle on his forehead. She’s fascinated, watching his shoulders tense up from her doing. Ji Pyeong watches her, blinking owlishly in the depths of his car. 

“I like your hair,” she says innocently. He clears his throat, his last word just on the end of an abruptly-cut off dialogue about investments and stocks. 

“Sorry,” she says. She puts her hand down, and she’s surprised to see his face fall in light dismay. “What were you saying?”

A second later, Ji Pyeong finds his voice, anxiety still trailing after him. “Nothing. I like your hair, too.” 

**II**

On their second date, Ji Pyeong hesitates in the dark, staring at her hand. 

Dal Mi smiles. Sitting next to him in the middle of a darkened theater, she yawns and drops her hand on his lap, shocking him. With a confident swipe of his fingers, she advances through the spaces of his own, gently gripping him. Even if she cannot see him, she can feel his ears and throat redden, and this amuses her greatly.

“Mister―I mean, Ji Pyeong,” she pauses, still unused to calling him in a closer term. “That was a good movie, right?” She tells him offhandedly when they’re leaving the cinema. He nods, agreeing with her. Outside the establishment, the stars are twinkling and she tells him to look up and enjoy the view. 

“What do you want to do now?” Ji Pyeong questions her when they’re left standing outside on an empty street, on an empty Saturday evening. The night is young and so is she, but she suddenly feels the knockings of slumber, so she turns to him and says, “Actually, the only thing I want to do is _this_.”

Dal Mi steps forward and places the lightest kiss she can muster. Ji Pyeong stills, freezing in front of her. She pulls away from him, surprised at his reaction. “I’m sorry. I didn't know what came over me.” She bites her lip, turning away from him in embarrassment. 

“No, no, it’s fine.” He says too hurriedly, “I enjoy it. The kiss, I meant. I enjoyed the kiss.” 

“Did you really? You look like someone just killed your cat.”

“I don’t have a cat.”

“Well, theoretically.”

They both stare at each other, not sure who’ll move first. With a hesitating step, Ji Pyeong leans down and presses his own kiss on her. It barely lasts a second, but Dal Mi ends up with a big beam when he shyly moves away from her. 

“To be honest,” she tells him, eyes twinkling. “I actually don’t want _just_ a kiss. What I really want to do is to make out with you right now. But I feel like that’s kind of awkward. What do you think?”

Ji Pyeong laughs. Actually laughs. Crinkles in the corners of his eyes and dimples flashing into her periphery. He hasn’t stopped holding her hand since she took it in the dark, and he’s curling his fingers around her hand tighter now, more used to her touch.

“For the first time, I think I may actually like the sound of your plans.”

She flashes a smirk, “Then, what are we waiting for?” Excitedly, she tugs him away to devour him.

  
  


**III**

They’re watching a movie on his sofa after dinner. At the beginning, Ji Pyeong had his arm wrapped around her shoulders. In the middle, however, her eyelids seem to lump forward, heavy with exhaustion.

“Can I lie on you?” Dal Mi whispers, turning to him. “I’m kind of sleepy.”

“I’m sorry?” Ji Pyeong’s head tilts, surprise coating his features. 

Dal Mi doesn’t bother explaining anymore, but rather toes her heels off and pushes his unready shoulders down, sitting on his lap. He ends up lying on the sofa, his head against a pillow, and Dal Mi settles her head in the crook of his collarbone, her hands softly warming his biceps. Slowly, Ji Pyeong loops his unsure hands around the small of her back and he stares down at her in silence. 

“Oh,” he says, voice hoarse. “Like a cat, you mean.”

“Nice, huh?” Hums Dal Mi soothingly. She closes her eyes for a bit, surprised at how she likes the way his chest rises and falls. 

“I thought we were watching a movie.” His voice, nervous, is muffled in her hair. But his hands start moving a bit on her back, gently tracing patterns. 

“We are,” she says, then yawns. “You smell nice.” 

It’s true. He has that boy smell. 

**IV**

Ji Pyeong is not hesitant to grab her hand now. Nor is he afraid to hug her when she sees him. The barrier of touch seems to dissipate one by one. Dal Mi sees that as great progress, and she celebrates her inner thinking by surprising him with a kiss, thinking that maybe it’s time.

Once again, he freezes. Because it’s the first time she’s kissed him in public. And the first time she’s kissed him in his office, especially where everyone can see them.

He lets out a slow exhale, an owlish blinking occurring as his expression. It remains that way, even past a duration of multiple seconds. 

Dread fills her suddenly. Dal Mi falters, feeling a bit stupid, realizing that maybe he mustn't have wanted that. 

“Sorry,” she says, blushes even. “I’ll just…” She motions at the packed lunch she made for him, and smiles apologetically. And almost disappointedly. “I’ll just leave, I guess.” 

“Okay,” Ji Pyeong exhales. But he surprises her, when he stands from his desk rigidly, leaving his computer and papers and work, and palms her chin with a firm hand. He places a kiss on her forehead, and smiles at her in farewell. 

**V**

Dal Mi trails a series of kisses on his neck while the morning sunlight pours through the windows. Ji Pyeong wakes up, visibly startled. He relaxes when he gets an eyeful of her Cheshire grin. “Oh. It’s just you.”

“Just ‘you’?” She scoffs, nipping his neck. He yelps, half annoyed but half smiling. “How dare you,” Dal Mi pouts. “Do you sleep with any other person besides me?”

“You’re the first person to try this bed out with me, ever since I moved here,” says Ji Pyeong coolly, turning around to face her. Their noses touch. He mumbles something incoherently, and Dal Mi has to press closer to hear him. “What?” 

“Love you,” he clears his throat, eyes darting unsurely. “I said I love you,” his face is solemn, but his tone borders on shyness.

Dal Mi rolls and ends up slathered all over him like a cat once again. She perks her head up, staring at him. All pleasant and delighted. “Love you, too.”

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Apparently, I write fluff??? *pikachu meme*
> 
> tumblr: vinceredieem


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